Mars’ largest meteorite perfectly recreated by 3D printing

By Luke Dormehl Published April 2, 2021

A 3D-printing company is aiding NASA by using its additive manufacturing technology to create an accurate replica of a meteorite located 34 million miles from Earth.

Measuring approximately 2 feet in length, the meteorite known as Block Island was first discovered on Mars by the Exploration Rover Opportunity in 2009. Studying it is an important part of furthering our knowledge about Mars and other planets, but at present the prospect of bringing it to Earth to examine u close is out of the question.

Recommended Videos

Fortunately, the Mars rover was able to take images and measurements to transmit back home, and this data has now been used by Mcor Technologies, an Ireland-based 3D-printing company, to create an almost life-size Block Island model.

“Block Island is the largest meteorite yet found on Mars,” Conor MacCormack, Mcor’s CEO, told Digital Trends. “It is an iron-nickel meteorite about the size of a small ice chest, weighing approximately a half-ton. 3D printing a life-size replica makes it quick and affordable to produce and light to transport.

“Additionally, printing the model in full color — an application integral to our process — to match the actual rock’s color provides a photorealistic sample, the next best thing to bringing back a real Martian meteorite. Our team is trying to help further space exploration by keeping research costs low while still maintaining a high level of accuracy of the models for scientists to study and teachers to use when teaching future space explorers.”

The 3D model of Block Island was printed in paper, making it impressively lightweight. Mcor also used a color map from the original rover data to ensure that the color in the finished model was accurate to the color in the 3D digital file. In all, the printing process took just 30 hours to complete. For those keeping score, that’s considerably less than the amount of time a mission to Mars would require.

After all, why go to Mars when 3D printing can bring Mars to us?

Former Contributor

I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…

Topics

Emerging Tech

Pangram, the gold standard for AI text checks, releases Image 1.0 tool to sniff fake pics and videos

It can identify AI-generated pictures with an astounding 99.96% accuracy on its own evaluation set.

AI image detector tool pangram

Pangram, one of the most widely used and trusted AI text detectors out there, is finally releasing its multimedia detection tools to the masses. Pangram Image 1.0, which was previously available as a research preview, is now widely available on the web, through the company’s API, and via its eponymous Chrome extension.

The company claims its image detector can identify AI-generated pictures with an astounding 99.96% accuracy on its own evaluation set. Pangram also notes that it has improved the model’s accuracy over the past few months, especially against edited images, low-resolution pictures, and pictures made by the most advanced AI models out there. As far as the competition goes, TruthScan achieves an accuracy of 96.33%, followed by AI or Not at 91.38% and Sightengine at 88.33%.

Emerging Tech

Scammers are using AI to fake missing pet photos, and what happens next is horrifying

Criminals are using AI-generated pet photos to convince desperate owners their missing animals have been found, before demanding money and making disturbing threats.

Brown and white cat meowing in Inzoi.

Losing a pet can be heartbreaking, and anyone who's experienced it knows how quickly you'd drop everything if someone called to say they'd found your missing dog or cat. Unfortunately, scammers have learned to exploit that desperation, and AI is making their tricks even more convincing.

A disturbing new scam is targeting pet owners across the UK, with criminals using AI-generated images to pretend they've found missing animals. They then demand money for their return, sometimes going as far as threatening to kill the pets if the owners refuse to pay. According to a BBC report, several pet owners have already experienced these attacks, with scammers using convincing photographs, emotional stories, and increasingly aggressive messages to pressure them into paying.

Emerging Tech

AI can turn your Instagram posts into scam that know a little too much about you

Your public social media posts could be helping scammers create emails that feel personal, and existing AI safeguards aren't doing enough to stop them.

Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

We've all received those suspicious emails claiming we've won something, missed a delivery, or need to urgently update our bank details. Most are easy enough to ignore, especially when they're full of strange wording or have absolutely nothing to do with us. But what happens when a scam email actually knows what you've been up to lately? That's where things get a little worrying.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington have found that AI can use information people share publicly on social media to create phishing emails that feel personal. And we're not just talking about knowing your name or where you work. These emails can reference things you've recently done, places you've visited, or even something you've been looking forward to. The researchers showed how widely available AI models could gather these details and turn them into targeted messages, potentially letting scammers reach large numbers of people without spending hours researching each person individually.